Author Archives: TheDIYGirl

Refrigerator repair – DIY or not?

Posted on by May 29, 2015avatar
Refrigerator repair - DIY or not? The DIY Girl

This Sunday I returned from a nine-day camping trip to find a totally dead refrigerator. In fact, the inside of the refrigerator was much warmer than the house since I’d turned the heat way down. Apparently the fans and other parts heat things up when the compressor stops cooling. Oh joy. It must have died several days before because everything was completely thawed and stinky and all the food was a total loss. The good news? It was a terrific opportunity to clean the fridge and freezer since it wasn’t cold and full of food 😉 Trying to look on … Read more…

DIY Dog coats made with double fleece

Posted on by March 4, 2014avatar
DIY Dog coats made with double fleece - The DIY Girl

I was planning a Thanksgiving trip to the beach in South Carolina and was worried about my older yellow labs getting chilled when they were still a little wet from swimming. No matter how dorky they might look I decided they should have coats to keep them warm. Coming up with a pattern I did some research on the internet to get ideas about the pattern. One of the sites I found was SewDoggyStyle.com which offered measuring and pattern suggestions. After measurements I drew out the pattern on craft paper. I while back I bought a roll of paper at Lowes … Read more…

Ladderless window cleaning

Posted on by April 19, 2015avatar
Ladderless window cleaning - The DIY Girl

Bucket + extension pole + brush + rags = no ladder My house sits on very hilly terrain so figuring out a flat surface to prop a ladder is nearly impossible. Mix that difficulty with my lifelong fear of ladders and I was pretty committed to figuring out a way to clean my windows without risking my life. Needed tools My goal was to do it without having to go purchase a bunch of stuff. I have had one of the Mr. Long Arm Pro-Pole Extension Poles for years. This pole has allowed me to do a whole lot of … Read more…

LED replacement bulbs for camper

Posted on by March 4, 2014avatar
LED replacement bulbs for camper - The DIY Girl

Converting the standard interior camper or RV lights to LED is incredibly easy once you determine the bulb size in the fixtures. I was not too enthralled with the lighting in my camper. The interior lights were dual 921 bulbs that would get smoking hot when used for a short time (figuratively, not literally) and provided a harsh light. I’m in a Rockwood A128S which is an A frame hardside pop-up camper that folds down in transport and there are warning stickers that lights must cool down before closing the camper. Need I say more? I was very interested in … Read more…

Hey Honey, could you take care of this?

Posted on by November 2, 2013avatar
Hey Honey, could you take care of this? - The DIY Girl

I do pretty good on my own. I devise ways to move things that are too heavy for me. I use penetrating oil to loosen a bolt that I can’t budge for the life of me. I keep a fairly good sense of humor about taking care of problems/disaster/repairs by myself. But every once in while I hit the wall. I did that today. I’ve come to realize it’s not the degree of difficulty or the lack of upper body strength, or just not being big enough or strong enough in general — it’s the grossness value. That’s what stops … Read more…

Leaking dishwasher float

Posted on by October 28, 2013avatar
Leaking dishwasher float - The DIY Girl

Having recently moved to an extremely humid area I was not happy with how mildewy the dishwasher was getting between uses earlier this summer. I live alone, don’t go through the many dishes most of the time and they were sitting in that damp environment too long. Wash my dishes in a moldy, mildewy environment? It just wasn’t very appetizing so I decided to quit using the dishwasher and hand wash for the remainder of the summer. Now it’s October and I’m getting ready to sell the house so I thought it was time to go back to using the … Read more…

Cheap Magic Erasers

Posted on by September 29, 2013avatar
Cheap Magic Erasers - The DIY Girl

Do you like using Magic Erasers to clean? Are you aware they are simply melamine sponges? How they work “Rubbing with a slightly moistened foam may remove otherwise “uncleanable” external markings from surfaces. For example, it can remove crayon, magic marker, and grease from painted walls, wood finishings, plastic-adhering paints from treated wooden tables, adhesive residue, and grime from hub caps.[3] If the surface being cleaned is not sufficiently hard, it may be finely scratched by the melamine material. The foam wears away, rather like a pencil eraser, leaving behind a slight residue which can be rinsed off.” ~source Wikipedia Buying bulk quantities You may have known how … Read more…

Rehab for faux wood blinds

Posted on by September 26, 2013avatar
Rehab for faux wood blinds - The DIY Girl

When I moved into this house I found out the blind on the living room window had all three of it’s pull strings that raise and lower it were broken. I wasn’t surprised because the six foot wide blind is a beast to pull up. After finding out a new blind would cost a minimum of $100 I went to Joann and bought blind cord for $7 and re-threaded the pull cords. Easy fix. That was 8 months ago. Last week I had to blinds open and went to tilt them up when it got dark out. The piece that … Read more…

Treating eczema

Posted on by July 7, 2015avatar

I have no idea what brought it on since it’s usually stress related, but recently on a Thursday night I rubbed the back of my thigh and felt bumps — lots of them. From there it rapidly spread to the back of my neck and shoulders, up across my butt, then started creeping down my arms and legs and all over my mid-section. It was even on my scalp and a little of my forehead. Whether you call it eczema or atopic dermatitis I was having a major outbreak and it sucked and I needed a good way of treating eczema. … Read more…

Securing deadbolts

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar
Securing deadbolts - The DIY Girl

I’ve been living in an area that has made me more security conscious — didn’t know when I moved here that it’s a high crime area and can’t wait to move again. Anyway — I’ve discovered some low-cost interesting ideas. I watched the video at Super Grip Lock where they mentioned bump keys. Bump keys? A quick search led me all too quickly to YouTube where an ass jerk young man explained in-depth how easy bump keys are to make and use and how most home owners are too stupid to know about them. Just peachy. Glad to know we’re educating our criminals. … Read more…